The countdown is on – Fernie Alpine Resort (FAR) will tentatively open on Saturday, November 30, conditions permitting.
Taking advantage of the cooler temperatures, the resort is once again making snow and guns are blasting on the Lizard run.
“It’s a wait-and-see thing,” said FAR’s marketing manager, Karen Pepper.
During the summer the Resort’s Timber Chair had a big makeover, which put it out of operation for the warmer months but has been completed in time for the winter season.
This work was extensive and time consuming but has extended the life of the chair by 25 years.
Also during the summer, many of the runs received ‘haircuts’, by the resort’s Saw and Brush Crew. This cleaned up excess shrubbery which will allow for runs to be covered with snow faster during the early season. Thanks to a mild fire season, machines were able to run almost all season and cleanup was extensive.
The Saw and Brush Crew focused especially on Boom, Buck-shot, Suprize and Black Cloud runs. Also, using their FrakenCat mower, crews were able to cut every inch of mowable terrain across all five of the resort’s bowls.
Restaurants, shops and sports schools are gearing up in preparation for the upcoming season. This year you might notice a few changes.
A new Starbucks coffee bar will be added into the Mountain Pantry, and there will also be a few changes to food and beverage venues around the resort with regards of offerings.
“We’re super psyched about it,” said Pepper. “Staff training is in progress, we’re on-boarding all of our staff and getting them all trained. This is a really exciting, vibrant time of year at the ski hill and we’re really looking forward to getting open.”
For updates, visit Skifernie.com or Facebook.com/FernieAlpineResort.
